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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27565963">A Spark Will Light A Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BogDog/pseuds/BogDog'>BogDog</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Owl House (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU, But mostly fluff, Dragons??? I guess???, F/F, How Do I Tag, Mild Angst, but also ✨angst✨, everybody is human in this au, first fic, have mercy on me, spark au, that ive ever written</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:02:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,920</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27565963</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BogDog/pseuds/BogDog</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In the isolated nation of the Boiling Isles, storm beasts and their guardians create the perfect, idyllic weather every day. </p><p>Wind beasts soar through the air, guiding clouds away. Sun beasts create warm temperatures, perfect for the crops that rain beasts water, with gentle rain that never floods. </p><p>Luz and Amity each dream of having storm beasts of their own, becoming storm guardians to help serve their land. But when Luz and Amity’s storm beast eggs hatch into lightning beasts—creatures of fire and destruction—Amity’s family is certain there must have been a mistake. </p><p>With the girls quickly enrolled into lightning school together, they leave their homes to be trained in their duties to the nation. In Amity’s struggle to learn the skills of a lightning guardian, she discovers that the Boiling Isles’ flawless weather comes at a destructive price—a price that those in power want to hide. </p><p>Lives are at stake as Amity must speak out.<br/>Somebody has to reveal the truth to a nation in isolation, and with Luz’s help, she resolves to find a way to be heard.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>(boschlow do be showing up like 28 chapters in), Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Boscha/Willow Park</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Just A Farming Girl</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This AU is based off of a book I read.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Today was another cloudless day on the Boiling Isles. Another day where the large forms of sun beasts could be seen in the distance, shimmering in the daylight and distributing their rays of sun to farms across the land. Another day where if you squinted, and looked up as high as you could, you could see wind guardians swooping through the sky on their beasts, subtly guiding the clouds away. Another day that Luz Noceda spent in her bedroom with her glowing storm beast egg. </p><p>Luz loved that egg. She spent every spare hour she could with it, talking to it and reading it fairy tales from her favorite storybooks. But today, she was practically vibrating with excitement. </p><p>As she sat in her house’s doorway, looking at the reddening sky in expectation, she gasped. A dark shape was flying through the sky, flapping its wings and growing bigger and bigger by the moment. </p><p>Luz shot up from her seat at the doorway and bolted to one of the many open fields near her home, waving her arms in the air rapidly. The dark shape flew closer and closer until Luz could clearly see its cerulean feathers and sky blue scales, its head adorned with dark blue ram horns. Luz cupped her hands over her mouth, shouting at the sky, “Mom! Mooooom!”</p><p>The shape swept towards her gracefully, its wings making audible flaps through the air. As it landed a few yards next to Luz elegantly, it lowered its long neck. The rain beast crouched towards the ground, letting its rider slide off of it, taking her bag with her. Luz sprinted to the rider, embracing her tightly, earning a chuckle from her. “Luz, I was only out for a few hours. And you had your egg to bond with!” </p><p>Luz looked up, still not letting go.  She grinned at her mother. “You know that’s never going to stop me from missing you.” </p><p>The rain beast nuzzled into Luz’s shoulder, drawing her attention. Luz released her mother, giggling, and stroked the dragon-like beast’s head. “Yes Usli, I missed you too.”</p><p>The rain beast snorted playfully, drawing away. It cocked its head towards Camilia, as if asking her a question silently. Camilia smiled, nodding as she reached into her bag. Luz’s eyes widened as Camilia brought out a printed book, with a brightly colored cover and bold, saturated text on its front. Luz was practically bouncing up and down, as she spoke with rapid fire, “Izzat the new Azura book?! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” </p><p>Luz’s grin was wide and happy. Camilia handed it to Luz, although Luz may as well have snatched it from her grasp. Camilia’s eyes crinkled at the corners from her smile as she watched her child drink in every detail on the book’s cover, turning the book over to read the brief description on its back. “Come on,” Camilia said, “The sun is setting, and you need to eat dinner and go to bed soon.”</p><p>As Camilia walked towards their home, Luz following at her heels like an excited puppy, Usli lightly steps to the back of the house. Luz threw open the door and dashed towards the humble dining room, with its small table and four chairs made of simple wood. She set the book down almost reverently on a side of the table, and than walked to the cupboards to get two out of the four plates they owned. </p><p>Luz was tempted to physically restrain herself from opening the book. She had promised to herself the moment she saw the book that she would only start reading it in the presence of her storm beast egg. Luz had wanted the egg to absorb her joy over new Azura content, in hopes to maybe push it to hatch. </p><p>She’d had that egg for two years by now, bonding with it and letting it absorb her thoughts and personality. A storm beast egg required around two years of care and contact with its future guardian in order to develop properly into a storm beast when it hatched. Luz knew that it would hatch soon, but not exactly when.</p><p>These thoughts went through her head on loop as she ate her dinner in silence, to the surprise of her mother. Camilia had been expecting Luz to gush about the series throughout her mealtime, but she was quiet. As Luz finished her dinner, she asked a question. “What do you think my storm beast will be?”</p><p>Camilia had been moving from her seat to open a window when Luz had asked. As she pushed open the two wooden slabs over the window, she responded, “Well, what do you think it’ll be?” </p><p>Luz thought carefully. “I’m responsible,” followed by a raised eyebrow from her mother and a slight chuckle, “so I think I’ll hatch a sun beast!” </p><p>“What about a snow beast? You’re fun-loving and quite active.” Her mother replied. “Or maybe a rain beast. Usli would certainly appreciate some company.” </p><p>As if on cue, Usli poked her head through the window, gazing at Luz. The rain beast narrowed her eyes, before nodding. Then she looked to Camilia, once again looking like she was asking a question. Camilia seemed to consider this question, before saying, “Perhaps a wind beast? You always loved watching them on wind days. Although that one wind beast that you got your kite tangled on was quite chagrined.” </p><p>Luz laughed at the memory. She had been eleven years old, too busy looking at the numerous wind beasts sweeping over the countryside to notice that her kite was drifting away, up into the air, and directly into the path of one of the wind beasts’ antlers. The wind guardian had taken it well, quickly untangling the kite as Luz panicked and shouted apologies into the sky. She could’ve sworn that the wind beast had shot her a dirty look as its guardian waved at her from the air.</p><p>Coming back to the present, Luz yawned. Night had fallen and it was time for her to go to sleep. Camilia smiled, “Go upstairs now. Tomorrow I’ll be out for most of the day, but after Usli takes me to the town she’ll come right back to stay with you. Remember to feed the chickens and check on the crops. I’ll leave your morning oats out for you before I leave, and don’t sleep in too long.” </p><p>Luz nodded sleepily and trudged up the stairs, taking the shining new Azura book with her. As she entered her bedroom, she glanced at the storm beast egg on its little stool at the right side of her room. She set her book down on her desk, too tired to begin reading it now, or even shelve it with the rest of her books. Luz laid a hand on the egg, and thought of the joy she’d had receiving the book. <i> Tomorrow, buddy. Tomorrow I’ll read this whole book to you. </i> </p><p>Luz settled into her bed at the corner of her room. As she pulled the covers over herself, she could’ve sworn she heard a cracking sound. Dismissing it as just her sleepiness playing tricks on her, she curled up under the covers and fell asleep peacefully. But the cracking sound persisted.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Living In A Lonely World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Amity remembers.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amity was quiet. She was taught to never speak unless spoken to in the presence of those above her, told to always listen to people who were superior to her. Speaking around her parents was like treading on a field barefoot, with glass shards scattered throughout it. One wrong move, one wrong emphasis on a syllable could ruin her. So her solution was silence. </p><p>It was a wind day today. Edric and Emira had both left the house on their wind beasts early in the morning, and Amity knew it wouldn’t be long before the red message balloons the Boiling Isles used would be drifting through the sky. </p><p>Amity loved wind days. She loved watching wind beasts and their guardians fly just above the message balloons, subtly pushing wind at them to make sure they didn’t drift away into the sky. </p><p>It was a delicate job near the larger, more populated areas of the Boiling Isles, due to the sheer amount of balloons. Emira had often playfully scolded Edric for losing control of one of the balloons, and needing to chase it through the sky. That was certainly fun to watch. </p><p>Amity dreamed of someday flying with her siblings. Far above the ground, and maybe just far enough out of her mother’s grasp. She wanted to make a difference in the world. Just like the many old tales of the first storm guardians in the Boiling Isles, the tales she loved and cherished. </p><p>As Amity looked from her workbook to her notebook in her room, she wrote her answers carefully. Her tutoring was flexible, now that she’d had her egg for two years. The tutoring in the slightly suburban area she lived in was always prepared for children having to leave to go to their storm schools. Storm beast eggs hatched throughout the year, leading to children spontaneously dropping out of tutoring programs to learn how to become a storm guardian.</p><p>Amity’s tutoring in her second year of having her egg consisted of simply walking to the tutoring center every day, picking up assignments and dropping them off. Although, she fondly remembered that time where Edric had let her ride on his wind beast to the tutoring center downtown. </p><p>Amity closed her workbook, having finished her assignment for the day, and leaned back in her chair. As she shelved her workbook, she grabbed a second notebook and opened it, revealing multiple drawings and sketches of whatever she had been thinking of at the time. She looked to the nook that her storm beast egg stayed in, and moved closer to it.</p><p>Amity reached for the book of folklore she had stashed next to the egg, thumbing through it to her favorite story. The story of the very first storm guardian. She gently touched the glowing egg, its shell shining in reds, purples, and yellows. </p><p>And then she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Quickly hiding the folklore book again, she rushed to her desk and shelved the drawing book above it, swiftly exchanging it for her workbook. She opened the workbook to the assignment she had been working on, just before the door to her room opened with a creak.</p><p>Odalia Blight entered her daughter’s room, and Amity subconsciously adjusted her posture and expression to be rigid and un-emotive. A Blight was taught to never betray their emotions through body language. If only her mother knew how much Amity had been slouching lately. </p><p>“Amity, dear, your grades have been dropping. An A- on that assessment and a B+ on your latest assignment. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Her mother said, with thinly veiled malice. “You know that you have to keep them up, for your sake.” </p><p>Amity bit back a response. <i> You mean for your reputation’s sake. I doubt anybody other than you even cares about my grades. Grades just got released today! I wasn’t aware of them until now! <i> She chose her words carefully, treading lightly on that field of broken glass. “I am sorry, mother. I didn’t know that my grades had been suffering. This won’t happen again.” And Amity was telling the truth. All she had wanted was to make her parents proud. But it was never enough. </i></i></p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Something in her mother’s eyes sharpened. It was strange, how just the way she could look at something changed the atmosphere of the room. “I hope it doesn’t, dear. Yet you’ve said that once before, and it still happens. What have you been doing, that’s taken your focus off of your work?” </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Amity froze, before replying quietly, “I was just...distracted. It’s been two years since I received my egg, and I’ve been wondering if it’s going to hatch soon.” A half-truth. She <i> had <i> been wondering if her storm beast egg would hatch. But she had also been reading from that book of folklore. The book that she wasn’t supposed to have. </i></i></i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>Odalia seemed to accept this response. But her gaze did not soften. “Ah, your storm beast. I hope you know how much of a responsibility you’ll have to your country as a guardian. And I hope you can handle it properly as well.” </i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>It took all of Amity’s will to not flick her eyes to the floor. To not look directly at the hiding spot of that book. She steeled herself to keep eye contact with her mother, and to not grip the edge of her seat. “I will be able to handle it. I know that I’ll be a guardian someday soon, and I will do my best.” </i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>Her mother finally seemed satisfied. “Very well, then. See to it that your grades are corrected by tomorrow. I want you to go to the tutoring center tomorrow and ask if there is any way you can fix those issues.” As she left the room, Odalia closed the door. </i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>One second passed. Two seconds passed. Three seconds passed. And only after ten seconds had passed did Amity allow herself to relax, letting out a breath she didn’t know that she was holding in.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>Amity slowly moved towards the nook that her storm beast egg was nestled in, reaching for the folklore book. She held it close to herself as she remembered how exactly she had gotten her hands on it.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>She had been seven years old. Amity had gone into town with her mother, when she’d quite literally ran into a crying girl carrying a book, who was just a bit younger than herself. Amity had been concerned about her, asking what was wrong. The girl stammered out a response through her sniffles, saying she had lost her fathers in the crowd. Amity felt sympathy for the girl, giving her her handkerchief to dry her tears. </i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>As the girl dried her tears, and wiped her glasses on the handkerchief, Amity encouraged her to remember when she’d last seen her fathers. The girl took deep, shaky breaths, and said that she’d last seen them at a bookstore, near the center of town. Amity knew exactly where it was. After all, it was where she got her Azura books from. Taking the girl by the hand, and leading her to the center of town, Amity found her way to the bookstore. </i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>And there she saw two men, concerned, and asking passersby if they had seen a child, wandering through the streets. The girl had run up to the men, loudly shouting the words ‘Papa! Dad!’ as she ran into their arms. </i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>Amity approached them slowly, watching the men check the girl over for any signs of injury. The girl pointed towards Amity, loudly saying that she saved her, and helped her find her parents. The girl said thank you more times than Amity could count, and to Amity’s surprise, the girl offered the book to her. And she said her name was Willow.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>Amity felt a hand on her shoulder. The grasp that she felt so often, and could instantly recognize. It was her mother, come to pull her away from the small celebration. “We don’t associate with people like them,” her mother had said, “We’re leaving. Blights are above those kind, and you must get home.” And she was hurried away, still holding Willow’s book in her hands. </i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>Amity smiled slightly at the memory. She had read her storm beast egg tales from that book many times. Opening the book, turning to her favorite story, she decided to read it to the egg. For memory’s sake.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The First Guardian</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A folk tale.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>bit of a shorter chapter</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amity settled next to her egg, holding the book open. As she began reading out loud, she could’ve sworn the egg glowed a bit brighter. </p>
<p>“Once, long ago, before the sunny days, the green grass, and before the gentle breeze, the Boiling Isles was a wasteland. Back then, it was nothing but a small country hemmed in by tall, dark mountains, with roiling rivers scattered throughout.”</p>
<p>Amity traced her finger over a small illustration of her nation, a small oval with tiny triangles representing the mountains bordering it. Simple rain clouds with lightning bolts sticking out of them hovered over the country.</p>
<p>“The weather was brutal, laying waste to anything on the surface of the earth. The winds were fierce, strong enough to rip trees out of the ground. The rain rose to boiling temperatures, killing any plant life it landed on. The soil was poor, with farmers just barely eking out enough crops to feed themselves. People starved every day.” </p>
<p>It was here that Amity had noted a strange, flimsy spot at the center of the page. It was the mark of a dried tear. The tear had been there since Willow had given the small, compact book to her. Whether it was from the day she was given it or from back when Willow had read from it, she didn’t know. </p>
<p>“One day, a farmer, in search of food for his daughter, ventured into a cave. As he was beginning to lose hope, he saw a light. Not the light of the cave’s exit, but a soft, gentle shimmering. Rounding a corner, his eyes widened in wonder. Sitting in the middle of a niche in the wall was a glowing egg!”</p>
<p>Below this passage, another illustration was given. It depicted the farmer looking at the egg, his back to the reader. The egg was giving off light, its texture drawn in an accurate way. </p>
<p>“The farmer was amazed. He had heard tales of legend, of shining eggs that held powerful beasts. Beasts that had the power to control storms, and the power to change weather. So he took the egg home to his small shelter, home to his daughter. As he put the glowing egg next to his daughter’s sleeping place, he let his daughter interact with it, talking to it as if it was alive. And two years of struggle later, the egg hatched. A beautiful blue dragon-like creature broke out of the shell, bonded to the farmer’s daughter.”</p>
<p>The book held an illustration of this moment, showing a young rain beast sitting amongst fragments of egg shell. </p>
<p>“The farmer’s daughter was the first storm guardian in the Boiling Isles, a rain guardian. Together, the first guardian and her rain beast tamed the boiling rains that hovered near her home. For the first time in years, gentle rain fell upon the farmer’s crops, allowing them to grow properly. The first guardian traveled the nation, searching for other guardians and recruiting them to fix their broken land. The first guardian was renowned as a hero, uniting the country and saving the Boiling Isles.” </p>
<p>And that was the end of the tale. As Amity closed the book, she placed her hand on the egg’s shell and whispered to it. “Looking forward to meeting you soon.” Amity tucked the book behind the egg gently, and pulled herself up. She walked towards her door, reaching for the handle, and then-</p>
<p>
  <i> Crack. <i></i></i>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>woohoo, lore!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Hatching</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A lightning beast is born.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this chapter is a biggun</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luz’s house was on fire.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">Well, a bit more than just the house was on fire. As Luz had scurried outside, the blaze had already spread to a small part of the corn fields. Luz was not alone in her mad dash to the doorway, for she was followed by a small, agitated lightning beast.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><br/>So much had happened in just an hour.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><br/></span>The day had started rather normally for Luz. She’d overslept, and had snapped awake when she realized that the sun’s rays were peeking through the gaps in the window’s slides. Luz had stretched, and hurriedly pulled on her light cotton tunic and sleeveless leather vest. She’d stomped herself into her trousers, and had rushed out her bedroom doorway, not giving a second glance to her storm beasts egg, nestled on its stool and wrapped in quilts.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><br/>Luz had eaten her breakfast quickly, and had fed the chickens not long after, rolling up her sleeves as she did so. Just another morning chore, like hanging up the laundry to dry on its lines. Usli was absent, most likely still out at the town to drop off her mother.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luz had re-entered her room, grabbed her new Azura book off of its shelf, and sat on the floor. After a brief moment of contemplation, she gently grabbed the storm beast egg and lowered it to the floor, bringing the quilts along with it. As she ran her hand over the shell’s surface, she noticed something irregular. In the rainbow scales, there were flaws, and a web of cracks ran across it’s surface.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><br/>Luz dropped her book at the sight of this. “Buddy? Is that you in there?” A scratching sound came in reply. The egg’s shell was bulging, the beast inside wanting out. More cracks appeared, webbing along the shell’s surface.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>This is it! After two years, it’s finally happening!</em> Luz thought, staring at the egg in wonder. “Come on, buddy! You can do it! Hatch!” She encouraged.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A shard flew out of the egg’s shell, created by a tiny claw poking through the egg. The claw retracted, and the beast prepared to poke through more of the shell.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luz was right there beside it, attempting to help claw out little edges of the shell. As she dug her fingers in, ignoring the slight pain, she helped widen the hole, and pried away more pieces as the cracking sound grew louder. The light shone brighter, as if the beast itself was glowing.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally, a small, scaly, and yellow arm burst through the side of the egg, gaining freedom through the hole. As claws opened and closed on air, Luz felt herself grinning so hard that her cheeks hurt.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Chunks of shell fell onto the floor. And so did the storm beast. Having finally freed herself of her egg, the small beast spilled onto the floor quite ungracefully. Luz crouched next to her in concern as the beast shook herself like a dog. She looked like a small, yellow dragon with a serpent-like body, with stocky arms and legs and a long tail ending in two feathers. When the beast looked up at Luz, she looked at her as if she was her world.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><br/>Purple eyes streaked with white gazed back at Luz lovingly. The beast’s face was an odd cross between a lizard and a dog, and to Luz, she was the most adorable thing she had ever seen. Then, suddenly, to Luz’s surprise, the beast <em>spoke</em> to her.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em><span class="s1">&lt;&lt; Hello, Luz. I am Axem. &gt;&gt;</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luz remembered asking her mother how she worked so seamlessly with Usli back in her rain guardian days. Her mother had laughed and told her about the bond that every guardian had with their storm beast. A bond that allowed them to communicate mind-to-mind and heart-to-heart. She had told her that it was your beast speaking directly to your head, in their own voice.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She hadn’t told Luz how beautiful her beast would sound.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Axem’s voice was like the bells that wind beasts would carry to signal their arrival on mail runs. Cascading bells. That was how her <em>lightning beast</em> sounded.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luz’s eyes widened, tears of joy brimming at them. “Hello, Axem.” She said in awe.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em><span class="s1">&lt;&lt; I can see you, and you can see me. I’m finally with you. &gt;&gt;</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The beast lifted her head higher, her tail lifted high with pride.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em><span class="s1">&lt;&lt; We’ll do great things together! We’ll have amazing adventures, just like in your books! We’ll be- ooh, I have wings! &gt;&gt;</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luz giggled as the lightning beast twisted and turned her head every which way, trying to get a better look at her dragon-like wings. Luz could feel her beast’s joy as if it were her own, and every word her beast said came with a rush of love and childlike wonder. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>&lt;&lt; ...Can I fly? &gt;&gt;</em>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luz opened her mouth to respond, but decided to try something else. She focused on Axem’s words, attempting to send her own thoughts towards the small beast. In the moment she succeeded, she could almost feel a new connection forming. No, it wasn’t forming. It was like this connection had always been there, and Luz had never found it until now. She felt complete, even though she didn’t know she was incomplete before.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em><span class="s1">We’ll just have to see that for ourselves.</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">Luz grinned. She raced over to the small window, Axem at her heels, and threw the wooden slides over them open. Axem wiggled, and then jumped up to the windowsill, her claws scrabbling on the wood. Crouching, the small beast spread her wings, preparing to jump from the windowsill out into the open air. </p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>&lt;&lt; Here goes nothing! &gt;&gt;</em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">Axem leaped from the windowsill, flapping her wings wildly. For a few fleeting moments, Luz could feel her beast’s worry and desperation, as Axem disappeared from her view.</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">And then Axem flew upwards, lurching a bit awkwardly, but flying nonetheless. Luz leaned out of the window, cheering loudly, “Woohoo! Go, Axem!”</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>&lt;&lt; I can flyyyyyyy! &gt;&gt; </em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">With the sun illuminating her lightning beast’s small form, making it almost appear to shimmer, Luz had to put a hand above her eyes to avoid looking directly into the sun. It was then that Luz realized it was not the sun causing Axem to shine, but the sparks coming off of the beast’s body. Sparks of electricity danced along Axem’s scaly body as she flew in circles above the fields of corn near Luz’s house. </p><p class="p1">
  <em><br/>&lt;&lt; Uh oh. &gt;&gt;</em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>Why ‘uh oh’?</em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">And then Luz said, “Uh oh.”</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">The laundry line had caught fire. The sparks that were spewing from Axem’s body had fallen below her, directly onto the rope of the laundry line. And now the fire was spreading in two directions; the first was towards Luz’s windowsill, as that was where the laundry line had been tied to. The second was towards the fields, as the laundry line had ended and been tied down to a peg near an old tree stump next to the fields. The fire raced upwards and downwards at the same time, and Luz could hear Axem’s panicked apologies.</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>&lt;&lt; Oh no, oh no, I’m so sorry! I’m sorry, Luz! I can’t stop the sparks! &gt;&gt;</em>
</p><p class="p1"><br/>In her panic, Axem lurched clumsily back towards the windowsill, which was now dangerously close to being ablaze, and flew straight through it, directly into Luz. Luz fell onto her back, grunting in pain as the smell of smoke began to fill the air. She sat up quickly, beckoning Axem to her side. “We need to get out of here, now!” Holding the collar of her shirt over her mouth, she sprinted as quickly as she could down the stairs and out the doorway, her beast by her side, and still sparking. </p><p class="p1"><br/>As Luz ran to the back of the house, where her windowsill and the corn fields were, the smell of smoke grew stronger. Thinking quickly, she grabbed one of the few small wash buckets next to the stump, and ran to the water pump, pushing it up and down as quickly as she could to fill the bucket.<br/><br/></p><p class="p1">
  <em>Axem, get in the bucket!</em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>&lt;&lt; What? &gt;&gt;</em>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em><br/>Just do it!</em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">Confused, Axem climbed into the filled bucket, spilling some water over the edge of it. No more sparks leapt out of the water, although sometimes the water still lit up with electricity. <br/><br/></p><p class="p1">As Luz hurried to pump more water into another bucket, a shadow passed over her head. It couldn’t have been a cloud, because there were no clouds over the countryside except for rain days. The sound of flapping wings came through the air. Usli was back. Luz’s eyes lit up with hope.<br/><br/></p><p class="p1">Luz shouted up into the air, “Usli! I’m sorry, please put out this fire!” Usli circled overhead, shaking her head as if to say no. “I know you don’t have your rain power anymore, but you can still stomp out the fire in the fields!” The rain beast seemed to consider this. She wouldn’t be immune to the heat, as she was a rain beast, not a sun beast. But if it was to protect her guardian’s child, she would do it in a heartbeat. The rain beast landed in the fields with a <em>whumpf. </em>She roared in pain, but stomped out the fire, folding her wings and trying not to inhale too much smoke. <br/><br/></p><p class="p1">Luz choked. The sight of her mother’s rain beast in pain was heartbreaking to her, and Axem’s voice rang throughout her head. But her voice was distant, almost as if speaking to somebody else.</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>&lt;&lt; You’re doing great, Usli! The fire is almost out! &gt;&gt;</em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">After just a few more seconds, the fire in the fields was completely stomped out, though the fire near the windowsill was still burning. Usli turned her head towards Luz, and then picked up the spare bucket of water that had been filled with her mouth, clamping her teeth around the handle. She flicked her head towards the window, and the water flew out, dousing the flames, and leaving charred wood and the lingering smell of smoke. <br/><br/></p><p class="p1">Usli lumbered out of the fields, stepping lightly. Luz could see that the bottoms of her feet were reddened and burned, although they likely weren’t severe. Usli turned her gaze towards Axem, who was still sitting in the filled bucket, and her expression softened. She looked towards Luz, and then Axem’s laughter came to Luz’s thoughts.<br/><br/></p><p class="p1">
  <em>&lt;&lt; Usli says, “You’ve got a lot to explain to your mother.” &gt;&gt;</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thanks for reading! I’ll be adding the angst tag for the next chapter so look out 👀</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this is my first fic! i hope to explain more about the au in the future but thank you so much for reading so far!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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